- There are times where you think that you need to own some
sort of special super car for a daily driver,
like a $60,000 GTR on Blizzaks,
or like a $35,000 Ferrari you found on the marketplace.
And the truth is you don't.
What you need to own is
some sort of daily driver you can beat up,
you don't have to feel bad when you run into a curb
and sometimes just a car
that's going to get you from A to B
without having to worry about how much of a dent
it's going to put in your wallet.
I'm Alex, @alex.fi on Instagram
and in today's episode of Opposite Lanes,
we're gonna be comparing whether
you should own one of the dailies of dailies,
the kings of the road,
a 2003 Subaru WRX or a 2003 Volkswagen Golf GTI.
(upbeat techno music)
(engine revving)
(soft music)
Why is it with Volkswagen's like
every single time you get closer,
you just notice the weirdest things you're like,
like, why does it do that?
Hi, we're going to be doing a 2003 GTI in imola yellow,
one of a thousand.
It's very important that we say that
because it makes us feel better
when we pay extra money for a car.
And we're looking at the daily drivability.
This one starts, so we're already off to a great start.
This is Dakota's new daily.
He traded in his dang near brand new wagon for this bad boy,
for this imola yellow GTI.
Now this thing is on,
I think it's on like race lands
is on three SDM wheels,
which look very, very good on this car.
And it has the 1.8 T,
which makes me very, very happy in life.
Now, the thing to remember with daily drivers
is it's not really about, you know, how perfect is it.
It's not really about whether you're not
going to run into something,
it's a matter of when.
It's a matter of how much damage can you do to a car
when you're in high school
or you're in college
where the thing will just still treat you right.
And for those that don't know,
the GTI is like the official
car of the high school parking lot.
(engine revving)
And one of the things just like the R32 that we reviewed,
is how much visibility it has,
how comfortable it is to drive.
And even though this is a 20th anniversary,
so this is 17 years old now going on 18 years old now,
it's still feels really nice.
Sure, there's a couple things wrong with it
that we're really going to jump into,
but we will like, the hood being smashed to bits
or the fact that there are these weird creases
near the fender corners
or the fact that your door handles move.
You know, that's a little, that's all little stuff, right?
Just take a picture from 10 feet away,
put a little preset on it, throw it up on Instagram,
get your 3000 likes because it's a Volkswagen, it's a GTI.
So you're going to get it and move on with your life.
Everything about the car sounds fantastic.
The 1.8 T is a motor that you can't really go wrong with.
On top of the fact that
really the only thing it likes to eat
is just more oil as it gets older.
(engine revving)
But it climbs really well.
It's got a little bit of that blow off valve.
It's got that lovely little front wheel drive,
little shake that it got going on.
But for the most part,
when you're looking at a daily driver,
this aint half bad.
It's got a tall roof line.
That's important because when you go to U-Haul,
'cause your parents kicked you out
because you spent too much time partying on a Friday night.
You gotta make sure you can stack at least two boxes tall.
You gotta make sure that when you go to college
and you inevitably parked three miles away from campus
because campus pricing is just too damn high,
for some reason, I don't know why.
Campus parking is so expensive.
You got to put a bicycle back there,
or maybe we put the bicycle on top.
This car can really do it all.
It has been able to do it all forever.
Even nowadays, you still see people driving
GTIs literally everywhere.
Half of our staff has GTIs.
It's just a solid car that you can't go wrong with.
The modification is there.
If you are somebody that wants to have
a couple little extra modification points,
if you want to do an intake and exhaust
and all that sort of stuff,
you can do it with a GTI.
(engine revving)
And to the three parents watching
whether a GTI is a good car for your son or daughter or not,
I can tell you that it is because even if they floor it,
it's still not that fast.
It's not going to be that fast.
It can be quick, but it won't be fast.
It'll sound fast and loud and obnoxious,
but it's not actually fast and obnoxious.
My favorite thing about the car is definitely the color.
The interior is still nice.
All things consider for being a 2003,
the buttons still look new, which is such a weird thing.
It's got the nice billet aluminum for the 20th anniversary.
I don't think there's any sticky buttons.
There's no sticky buttons.
So it's already beaten the Ferrari.
I mean, everything about the car,
especially on the inside is super nice.
The thing with dailies is it's not, does it have an issue?
It's just how many issues are under control.
'Cause if they're under control, you're going to be fine.
And with the Volkswagen GTI,
you're going to have issues, right?
Like I'm pretty sure, not because of choice,
like there is a check engine light on somewhere,
likely disconnected.
Maybe there's some tape hiding it,
but that's okay because it's just what they do.
It's a controllable issue.
I don't know, I really like it.
AC blows nice.
Modifications are good.
Probably needs a new hood.
Maybe a new roof.
Kind of needs a couple of things,
probably new wheels,
a little bit of scraping happening.
A little bit of curb rash.
When I say a little, I mean a lot.
Now, one of the things that this car doesn't have
that the Subaru does obviously is the all wheel drive.
Another thing is just the loudness I would say.
And the fact that it is just a little bit more
of an aggressive car.
Really the only thing that makes this car aggressive
is the color.
Whereas everything about the Subaru is aggressive,
which is why it's probably the other unofficial car
of every high school or college parking lot.
Because it's just the car that screams
I need something reliable,
but I'll be damned if I ain't buying something fun.
(techno music)
So JT, this is your Subaru.
What do you need to tell me before I drive it?
- All right, so right now,
if you go over 10 pounds of boost,
it'll sputter, bad injector and cylinder, too.
- Okay.
- And other than that,
I guess 40 miles per hour in fourth gear
is pretty silent
and I don't know, like 30 in third,
if you're trying to like be quiet and hide from a cop,
otherwise you're pretty (beep)
it's really loud.
- This is a daily driver?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
All right.
Well let's...
Okay, let's go.
Let's just do it.
Okay.
I'm going to be honest.
And...
(sniffing)
We need like a 4D ride of this video
so that you can smell what I smell.
Smells like oil.
I've heard this car is very loud for no reason,
really whatsoever.
Judging by the location of the seatbelt
I don't feel like it's used that much.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, all right, please start.
(car revving)
Are you serious?
Why is it so loud?
We didn't even do anything.
Check engine light brake light on.
All right, let's go.
Oh my goodness gracious.
Okay.
Okay, so this is JTs,
I'm gonna have to like yell.
(car revving)
Why is it so loud?
I don't understand.
This is JTs 2003 Subaru WRX.
It's got as many loud parts as you can possibly imagine.
Intake, exhaust, all that good stuff,
blow off valve, boost gauge.
This thing is so unnecessary loud.
He said third gear and 30, he's a liar.
Fourth gear and 40?
Oh, there it is.
All right, so we're going to cruise at 40
this entire time
because dear God, is it way too loud to hear anything.
2003 Subaru WRX is like the go to when it comes down to
high school or college,
or maybe your first aftermarket
or automotive enthusiast purchase
because Subaru is known for their engine layout.
The fact that it's symmetrical all wheel drive
and the fact that
you can pretty much drive these things anywhere.
They have got four doors, they're four cylinder.
It pretty much checks all the T's crosses all the I's.
That's the wrong direction of explaining that.
But ultimately it does do everything
that you would want to do as a daily driver.
The biggest thing that comes down with especially Subaru's
is just what happens when they start to get modified.
And then where does the reliability go?
And usually it's out of the window,
especially on the older ones.
Older ones require a little bit more love, you know?
And not that you can't keep 'em alive.
But they do start to develop a little bit...
(engine revving)
They do tend to develop some more issues along the way.
When you compare it to a GTI
in which one you'd rather actually have,
it comes down to, well, honestly,
it depends on, I hate saying this,
but like for the price point,
if you find a stock one,
Subaru is going to do more with about the same.
Because you get the all wheel drive,
which is something that GTI doesn't have.
You're gonna get that boxer rumble,
which is something that GTI doesn't have.
And you're also going to get four doors,
which is very, very nice.
You don't get as much roof space,
but you get enough to put people in
and if you don't slam it on the ground,
you're going to be able to pretty much take
friends anywhere, which is pretty nice.
If you live up North where there's winter,
front wheel drive can survive,
but all wheel drive is so, so very nice,
especially the symmetrical all wheel drive,
because kind of just makes it a little bit more
fun to play around with.
If you find an empty parking lot in Mexico
and want to have fun with it.
(engine revving)
Let's talk about some of the cons.
Finding a 2003 Subaru WRX used, 17 years old
unmodified is pretty much the equivalent
of winning the lottery.
It just doesn't exist.
It doesn't happen.
So usually picking one up,
you're going to end up with somebody else's problems
unless you're paying a premium price for it.
In which case you're still ending up
with somebody's problems.
They're just more organized problems.
I say some of the biggest negatives to owning the Subaru
besides the fact that the pricing
can be just a little bit higher.
The repair costs can be a little bit higher.
In terms of modifying, the reliableness
does get thrown out of window.
The 1.8 T, my eyes is an easier motor
to keep alive from a daily driving perspective.
And finally, the biggest thing with the Subaru's
and sometimes one of the biggest negatives to it,
especially the older ones,
is that because it was
essentially a performance sedan with a turbo.
These cars were generally abused more
than the GTI counterparts.
The GTI counterparts had so much volume
and units sold
that you can find them from people unmolested.
You can find them from people that aren't modified
that literally just drove them as a daily,
much easier than in my eyes of finding a stock WRX
that has all the right compartment pieces
that isn't screaming at you for existing.
Subaru WRX is a fantastic platform.
All of them, all the generations for Subaru WRX
are a fantastic platform,
but when you're looking at it
from a daily drivability standpoint in Wisconsin,
in a perfect world,
the Subaru should take the cake.
In this weird thing that we call the real world,
odds are against you in finding one,
which is probably why you're better off with the GTI.
Plus, I like the look of the GTI just a hair more
than the early gen Subaru's.
Oh, I forgot this car has a bunch of STI things on it,
which is cool, I guess,
but I don't know why the Subaru needs to be so loud.
I'm not entirely sure what we did to it to make it so angry.
It still smells like a ton of oil.
We didn't let it go into limp mode.
The check engine light is on, it was filled up with fluids.
You know, I did get the disclaimer on this car
and I didn't have to get the disclaimer on that car.
Max, what would you rate this car?
- [Max] A three.
- Why?
He rated it a three!
The Max score is a three.
- [Max] It's pretty clapped.
- It's clapped.
It's clapped.
Is it a banger?
- [Max] It's a banger.
- Is a banger?
- [Max] Yeah.
- All right.
- [Max] If it didn't smell like oil it wouldn't be that bad.
- Yeah.
- [Max] I hate the oil smell.
- Smells like AutoZone in here.
(door slamming)
The GTI and the Subaru WRX,
the 2003 models definitely have a run
for which one should you buy if you only have one car?
One of them is front wheel drive has a 1.8 T
has a huge community behind it.
Has a beautiful interior
and it's definitely one that I would say
is probably the more comfortable.
On the other side,
you've got the angry, aggressive, angsty teenager,
and all of us wanted to have a big turbo,
a loud car and a huge wing,
but at least it's all wheel drive.
So it's going to get you around more
and it's still has a trunk and two more doors to boot.
Which one should you pick?
Well, I think if you're looking
for something clean and nice,
the GTI is probably gonna seal the deal.
If you're loud and rowdy, try finding a Subaru WRX.
Unless you can find a clean one,
in which case buy a clean one
and then never modified it
because if you do end up modifying,
it turns into one of those cars
that just slowly falls apart.
Because it was made in the early 2003
the odds of you actually being able to modify correctly
are super, super low, the GTI same thing,
because you got to replace everything
when you start to modify.
When you modify the parts,
you got bolts that break,
you got rust you gotta to deal with,
nobody's going to deal with it.
So they're going to just zip tie it together.
It's just how they do things.
It's just not something that you're going to want to do.